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М.А. Полякова
14
Гуманитарный вестник
# 6·2016
Jan Hus, Kinderfragen and Martin Luther's Enchiridion:
the problem of interaction
© M.A. Polyakova
Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Kaluga branch,
Kaluga, 248000, Russia
What contemporary history science considers especially valid includes not only describ-
ing certain events or analysing certain views, but also establishing the connection be-
tween key events, ages, ideas and models. The question of possible interaction of reli-
gious teachings formulated by the Czech professor and preacher Jan Hus and Martin
Luther, the founder of the German and European Reformation, belongs to this type of
problems. Despite certain representatives of Russian historical school (chiefly Slavo-
philes) being especially interested in the problem and despite the existence of a range of
investigations on the subject, the question of whether the ideas of Hus and the practices
of the Unity of the Brethren possibly influenced the ideological positions of the German
reformer remains open. This is even more important concerning such a significant point
as training children and youth in the foundations of the Christian faith, a point that is
known to have been of the utmost importance to both Brethren and Luther. This training
was implemented through special educational literature: dedicated teaching aids, or cat-
echisms. The catechism of the Unity of the Brethren is best known under its abbreviated
title, Kinderfragen (1523), and is considered to have been the first of its kind in children's
literature. Luther's catechism (Enchiridion, 1529) became known as the simplest and the
easiest to understand textbook on the basics of the Christian faith, and is actively reprint-
ed and used today in the practice of Protestant churches and schools.
Keywords:
Reformation, Hussites, Unity of the Brethren, Bohemian heresy, Eucharist,
Eucharist
.
REFERENCES
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Randin A.V. Cheshskaya i nemetskaya Reformatsiya (nekotorye aspekty
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Slavyano-germanskie issledovaniya
[Slavo-Germanic Studies].
Vol. 1, 2. Moscow, Indrik Publ., 2000, pp. 130–166.
[2]
Dr. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Briefwechsel
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Weimar, 1930. Available at:
https://archive.org/stream/supplwerkebriefwecr0302luthuoft#page/n9/mode/2up (accessed 29 April 2016).
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